Supercharger - Hamilton, TX

[tonybelding]

As of this evening the utility pole has been connected, the meter has been placed, the crews and equipment are gone, and it appears to be a 100% complete and ready-to-operate station. Looks like somebody just needs to throw the switch and activate it.

 

[XHabjab]

As of this evening the utility pole has been connected, the meter has been placed, the crews and equipment are gone, and it appears to be a 100% complete and ready-to-operate station. Looks like somebody just needs to throw the switch and activate it.

View attachment 963904

You've done a great job keeping us up to date with photos - thanks. Please keep it up.

Your picture seems to show that the meter is present. One thing to check on is whether or not it has power. It is in the gray box to the right of the transformer, facing the Supercharger stalls.

There's certainly optimism in the air, but I'm sure it needs some inspections on a schedule invisible to us, then the Tesla tech needs to visit and commission the site. He might be in town or he might be in Louisiana...

Somebody with perhaps inside knowledge of city insiders might possibly be able to find out something regarding inspection scheduling.

Thanks again for your excellent info. They've made good progress and you've been great keeping us up to date on this one.

 

[Bodyhauler]

Looks like they just need some signage and maybe a light pole. Hopefully finished soon.

 

[tonybelding]

The utility crew—the same contractors who put in the transformer, not the local power company—were out earlier this afternoon doing something with the transformer and the utility pole. The meter display remains blank.

 

[drdumont]

Once all the installation is done, even though it looks done, the inspector for the local power authority and the city have to sign off on the install. City inspectors are notorious for having long lead times for inspections and being incredibly detail oriented. Once he is done, the utility is allowed to "turn o" the supply to the meter, which will of course feed the Tesla gear. Then when the Tesla tech "commissions" the site, service begins. There are a number of checks and settings to be done by the Tesla tech(s), you are in business.
I have seen this process drag on for weeks. I have also seen this happen in a matter of days.

 

[tonybelding]

John the construction manager brought his crew out for commissioning today.

I had a great visit with them, and in the afternoon they gave my Model S the honor of first customer car to charge at this site!

However, this evening it is not yet open to the public. They are still waiting for the green light from the electric company, which is expected within the coming day or two. Once that approval clears, Tesla should be able to activate the site remotely and be in business.

I learned a few interesting things. They are no longer placing the rubber bumpers, or wheel stops, that I've see at some other sites. Although this site has sign posts, there will be no signs. Apparently the TESLA VEHICLE CHARGING ONLY signs must go away as a result of the arrangements with other car makers that we've all heard about. The guys joked about those signs becoming collector items. I asked if there's going to be a new-and-different sign, but John thinks not, and they'll be coming up with some other approach.

I was also told that they've just begun construction on the Santo Supercharger.

And I brought around my Roadster just to show off a little. This was a big hit, as they hadn't even seen a Roadster "in the wild" before. John was unaware that they can't DC fast-charge, but of course that's why he'd never seen one show up at a Supercharger station.

 

[TulsaCoker]

Thanks Tony for your updates and info. Love your roadster and S

 

[XHabjab]

John the construction manager brought his crew out for commissioning today.

View attachment 965263
I had a great visit with them, and in the afternoon they gave my Model S the honor of first customer car to charge at this site!

View attachment 965260
However, this evening it is not yet open to the public. They are still waiting for the green light from the electric company, which is expected within the coming day or two. Once that approval clears, Tesla should be able to activate the site remotely and be in business.

I learned a few interesting things. They are no longer placing the rubber bumpers, or wheel stops, that I've see at some other sites. Although this site has sign posts, there will be no signs. Apparently the TESLA VEHICLE CHARGING ONLY signs must go away as a result of the arrangements with other car makers that we've all heard about. The guys joked about those signs becoming collector items. I asked if there's going to be a new-and-different sign, but John thinks not, and they'll be coming up with some other approach.

I was also told that they've just begun construction on the Santo Supercharger.

And I brought around my Roadster just to show off a little. This was a big hit, as they hadn't even seen a Roadster "in the wild" before. John was unaware that they can't DC fast-charge, but of course that's why he'd never seen one show up at a Supercharger station.
View attachment 965261

@corywright

That’s your roadster? You and I dined together at the Dutch Pantry a couple of months ago, I think a Sunday afternoon. I think we had the gray MY out that day.

Thanks for your updates. Very helpful.

 

[scottyaggie]

That is a gorgeous color scheme on the roadster, I love it!

 

[corywright]

@tonybelding The @TeslaCharging account used your Roadster photo when announcing this location as open.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1691875194904965409

 

[thestral999]

Nice. It’s been updated on Tesla find us as well. Come on Santo TX location.

 

[Dr. J]

Supercharge.info still has it in (Construction).

 

[tonybelding]

Tonight I checked the list of nearby Superchargers in my car, and it didn't show up yet. I guess that takes time to propagate through the database of millions of cars. I drove over and looked, and the lights are on, and I grabbed a brief charge, and all was working as it should. It's definitely in service. However. . .

There was another diesel tanker truck parked on the tarmac in the charging area.

This is something that already happened once before the Station was even commissioned. Semi trucks have always parked on the dirt lot behind the Cefco, and often parked overnight while the drivers doze in their sleeper cabs. So, after the station was paved, one trucker decided to park his rig on the fresh, still-soft asphalt instead of on the dirt. He was there for hours, maybe overnight, and his truck and trailer tires slowly sank into the asphalt and left ugly divots.

These trucks take up space that was intended for Tesla drivers to maneuver their cars and easily back into the stalls, and they're damaging the tarmac. I don't know why one or two of them don't have enough sense to park their trucks on the caliche dirt, where there's still plenty of room.

 

[Dr. J]

Supercharge.info still has it in (Construction).

Now fixed: (Open).

 

[Dr. J]

Tonight I checked the list of nearby Superchargers in my car, and it didn't show up yet. I guess that takes time to propagate through the database of millions of cars. I drove over and looked, and the lights are on, and I grabbed a brief charge, and all was working as it should. It's definitely in service. However. . .

There was another diesel tanker truck parked on the tarmac in the charging area.

This is something that already happened once before the Station was even commissioned. Semi trucks have always parked on the dirt lot behind the Cefco, and often parked overnight while the drivers doze in their sleeper cabs. So, after the station was paved, one trucker decided to park his rig on the fresh, still-soft asphalt instead of on the dirt. He was there for hours, maybe overnight, and his truck and trailer tires slowly sank into the asphalt and left ugly divots.

These trucks take up space that was intended for Tesla drivers to maneuver their cars and easily back into the stalls, and they're damaging the tarmac. I don't know why one or two of them don't have enough sense to park their trucks on the caliche dirt, where there's still plenty of room.

Maybe the lot owner needs to post a sign saying that kind of thing is not allowed. It's possible this one was intentional, to damage the pavement.

 

[TheGrumpyChad]

I was happy to see the big trucks parked in their designated areas and not blocking access to any of the chargers.
No issues. Got the full 250kW at the start of charge. The convenience store restrooms were decent. Looking forward to future visits.

 

[tonybelding]

Maybe the lot owner needs to post a sign saying that kind of thing is not allowed. It's possible this one was intentional, to damage the pavement.

I was happy to see the big trucks parked in their designated areas and not blocking access to any of the chargers.

This morning I noticed that somebody has stenciled with white paint NO PARKING in several places along the edge of the pavement. Let's hope that's all the clue the truckers needed to see.

 

[XHabjab]

@corywright

That’s your roadster? You and I dined together at the Dutch Pantry a couple of months ago, I think a Sunday afternoon. I think we had the gray MY out that day.

Thanks for your updates. Very helpful.

Ahem yes, Dutchman's Hidden Valley, as you said earlier.


... so we are now on the nav screen with a non-zero charging fee. This generally means that the site is permanently available with no more startup items to handle.

I'm hoping to try it out tomorrow.

 

[Twiglett]

Hey there @Seyed you got the thread started so hopefully you got the good news

 

[Seyed]

Hey there @Seyed you got the thread started so hopefully you got the good news

Thanks @Twiglett . And thanks everyone for keeping this thread up-to-date.